Harry and Meghan say they will ‘move on’ after Oprah interview

2.2k

View
comments

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex last night insisted their interview with Oprah Winfrey would be the ‘last word’ on their rift with the Royal Family. 

The couple, who are preparing to welcome their second later this year, said they felt they ‘needed to have their say’ but now considered the matter closed and wanted to ‘move on’.

It comes as Prince Harry and Prince William prepare to display a united front when they unveil a statue in honour of their mother Princess Diana later this year.

The Duke of Sussex and Duke of Cambridge will reunite once more as they unveil the commissioned statue of their mother at Kensington Palace on July 1 on what would have been her 60th birthday. 

The hope of repairing a rift between the brothers comes as the royal family braces itself for Harry and Meghan Markle‘s explosive two-hour CBS interview with Oprah – which will air tonight in the US.

As the bitter fallout surrounding the tell-all interview continues, the Duke of Sussex considers the unveiling of his mother’s statue ‘a priority’, a source told The Telegraph.  

A friend told the paper: ‘It was something they felt they wanted and needed to do but now they have done it, they feel a line has been drawn under that chapter of their lives and they want to move on.’ 

There is still uncertainty about whether the Duke will also attend other upcoming events such as the Trooping the Colour on June 12 or the Duke of Edinburgh’s 100th birthday on June 10 due to impending arrival of his second child this summer.

The statue which is due to be unveiled was commissioned to mark the twentieth anniversary of Princess Diana’s death and recognise her positive impact in the UK and around the world.

It will be installed in the Sunken Garden of Kensington Palace on July 1 to mark The Princess’s 60th birthday.

The brothers first announced the commission of the statue on the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death, and the initiative is one of their few remaining joint ventures.

Announcing the project in 2017, the two Princes said: ‘It has been 20 years since our mother’s death and the time is right to recognise her positive impact in the UK and around the world with a permanent statue.

‘Our mother touched so many lives. We hope the statue will help all those who visit Kensington Palace to reflect on her life and her legacy.’ 

The Princes convened a committee to commission and privately raise funds for the creation of the statue and hope that it will help all those who visit Kensington Palace to reflect on their mother’s life and her legacy. 

The statue’s sculptor, Ian Rank-Broadley, is most recognised for his depiction of the Queen, which has appeared on all coins in the UK and Commonwealth since 1998. 

He also designed a gold coin marking the Queen’s diamond jubilee in 2012.

While the design stages of the statue progressed after it was first announced four years ago, its installation has been delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The unveiling of the statue comes as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex continue to build on their own projects, including their collaboration with the World Central Kitchen and their support for a Texan women’s shelter.

A source told The Telegraph: ‘There will definitely be more in the days and weeks to come across the board.

‘You will get a sense of their next steps in terms of their work with the foundation and other projects.’  

Questions were being asked last night as to how an internal family situation was now being played out on international TV, with Buckingham Palace insiders insisting the royals felt ‘nothing was done that warrants this’. 

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told Times Radio that the Government did not comment on ‘matters within the Royal Family’, but added: ‘The whole nation stands up for the Queen. The whole nation holds the Queen in the absolute highest regard.’  

With the gloves off, pitting Windsor versus Windsor, Palace sources last night said they were refusing to be goaded into a ‘tit for tat’ with the Sussexes.

‘We are just not going to get drawn into the circus that is being created around this media interview,’ one said. ‘It helps no one.’

Senior royal sources have made clear to the Mail that it is the Sussexes who have declared war on the Palace, not the other way round. One insider said the feeling was that courtiers ‘couldn’t have done any more for the couple than they did’.

‘Not everything was handled brilliantly. But they were supported and given everything they demanded. And certainly nothing was done that warrants this.’

Prince William has barely spoken to his brother in recent months and their relationship is said to be ‘hanging by a thread’ – although Prince Charles is understood to have tried not to get involved.

Despairing officials also cannot believe that Harry is so ‘blinkered’ that he cannot see how the interview is likely to destroy any vestige of trust between him and his family.

Meghan and Harry’s interview has sparked the biggest crisis faced by the Royal Family since Harry’s mother, Diana, gave her infamous ‘there were three of us in this marriage’ interview to Martin Bashir in 1995, which led the Queen to demand that she and Prince Charles divorce.

After a blaze of pre-publicity, there was virtual silence yesterday as the hours ticked down to the broadcast, broken only by a single tweet from Miss Winfrey which read: ‘Today’s the day.’ 

Last week the Sussexes were urged to postpone their tell-all interview with Oprah after Prince Philip had major surgery after more than a fortnight in hospital.

Harry’s grandfather had the operation at St Bartholomew’s Hospital in the City of London – Britain’s top heart hospital – after being transferred there from the private King Edward VII Hospital in Marylebone where he was being treated for an infection.  

Philip’s daughter-in-law Camilla revealed while visiting a vaccination centre in Croydon that the Duke was ‘slightly improving’ and that everyone in the Royal Family was ‘keeping our fingers crossed’

Giving an update on his condition yesterday, a Buckingham Palace spokesman said: ‘The Duke of Edinburgh yesterday underwent a successful procedure for a pre-existing heart condition at St Bartholomew’s Hospital.

‘His Royal Highness will remain in hospital for treatment, rest and recuperation for a number of days.

It came as a new clip released ahead of Harry and Meghan’s interview showed the Duchess of Sussex accusing The Firm of ‘perpetuating falsehoods about us.’

She said: ‘I don’t know how they could expect that after all of this time we would still just be silent if there is an active role that The Firm is playing in perpetuating falsehoods about us.’

The Duchess added: ‘And, if that comes with risk of losing things, there is a lot that has been lost already.’  

It comes as the charity watchdog is reviewing Harry and Meghan’s charity amid concerns about how it was run and whether it complied with charity law before it was shut down last year following their move to the US. 

Sources told the Telegraph the Charity Commission has opened a ‘regulatory and compliance case’ into Sussex Royal, though the watchdog has not yet determined whether or not there was any wrongdoing.

While mounting pressure has been put on Meghan and Harry  to push back the much-anticipated interview, a friend of the Sussexes told DailyMail.com: ‘Even if Meghan had the choice to postpone the Oprah special she said she wouldn’t because it has absolutely nothing to do with Prince Philip and that this is just an excuse by the palace to keep her muzzled.’

Reports have claimed Meghan could expose insider details of her supposed rift with the Duchess of Cambridge, but an Oprah interview source has insisted Meghan has nothing but ‘kind words’ to say about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. 

In extracts of the Oprah Winfrey interview released over the last few days, Meghan has criticised the constraints she faced as a working royal, and said it was ‘liberating’ to be able to ‘say yes’ to a request for an interview with the US chat show host. 

Last week the Queen launched an unprecedented inquiry into allegations that Meghan and Harry bullied their staff – leaving royal employees ‘shaken’ by ‘unhappy memories’ being brought up about a ‘toxic period’ before the couple emigrated.

A spokesperson for the palace said: ‘We are clearly very concerned about allegations in The Times following claims made by former staff of The Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

‘Accordingly our HR team will look into the circumstances outlined in the article.

‘Members of staff involved at the time, including those who have left the Household, will be invited to participate to see if lessons can be learned.

‘The Royal Household has had a Dignity at Work policy in place for a number of years and does not and will not tolerate bullying or harassment in the workplace.’   

Earlier today the Queen stressed the importance of staying in touch with family and friends during ‘testing times’ in a joint message for Commonwealth Day with other senior royals – broadcast on television just hours ahead of the Sussexes’ Oprah interview. 

The Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined forces to appear in the special BBC One programme on Sunday to mark Commonwealth Day, as the bitter fallout from Megxit continued.

Presented by Anita Rani, A Celebration of Commonwealth Day featured music and entertainment from groups across the Commonwealth as well as messages from members of the royal family. 

The bulk of the programme was filmed inside the Abbey and featured prayers by the Dean of Westminster. 

The Queen donned the same brooch she wore on her honeymoon in a touching tribute to Prince Philip as she addressed the nation for Commonwealth Day. 

The programme opened with footage taken last week of the Queen walking down an avenue of Commonwealth flags in St George’s Hall at Windsor Castle, where Harry and Meghan’s wedding reception was held. 

Her audio message celebrated collaboration, but stood in contrast to the troubles facing the royal family.

Focusing on the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the monarch spoke of using technology that ‘transcends boundaries or division’ and how there has been a ‘deeper appreciation’ of the need to connect to others during the Covid-19 crisis.

She also praised the ‘selfless dedication to duty’ seen across the Commonwealth, particularly on the front line.  

The message, pre-recorded at Windsor, was accompanied by new footage of the Queen filmed last week at the castle, where she has been staying in lockdown. 

During the event, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge hailed the ‘amazing work’ of key workers and frontline NHS staff throughout the coronavirus crises during a video conversation with three charity workers.

William and Kate were filmed making video calls to medical, charity and voluntary staff in South Africa, Bangladesh and Malaysia.

The Duchess of Cambridge also said it was ‘sad, almost’ how it has taken a pandemic for the public to ‘really back and support all those working on the front line’.

Kate and William chatted in a video call with Dr Zolelwa Sifumba, from South Africa, an advocate for the rights of healthcare workers on the front line.

The duchess told the medic: ‘Here in the UK there’s been masses of public recognition of the amazing work the front line are doing and it’s sad, almost, that it’s taken the pandemic for the public to really back and support all those working on the front line.’

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their children – Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis – were pictured last year joining in the weekly applause for frontline workers during the early part of the pandemic.

Dr Sifumba said: ‘We actually know the problems, we see the problems every day, you walk into work there are the problems.

‘The problem is our voices are not heard. We are on the front lines and we are expected to lift humanity. So my advice to everybody is, if you know a healthcare worker – any healthcare worker – you just love on them, love on them, love on them some more.

‘If their child needs looking after offer, you know, if they need a meal, offer.’

William added: ‘We, Catherine and I, have spoken to a lot of healthcare workers in UK and around the world over the last year – we hear your worries and your concerns and thank you for your time chatting to us about it.’